Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism: The Belief System That Enables Us to Eat Some Animals and Not Others

Published in 2009
204 pages

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Harvard-educated psychologist Dr. Melanie Joy is the world’s leading expert on the psychology of eating animals. Her work has been featured by national and international media outlets around the world, including the New York Times, the BBC, NPR, and ABC Australia. She is the author of the award-winning book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism, as well as Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters and Strategic Action for Animals. Dr. Joy is also an internationally acclaimed speaker, a relationship coach, and a communication specialist. She is the founding president of the charitable organization Beyond Carnism and a co-founder of ProVeg International. 

What is this book about?
This groundbreaking work, voted one of the top ten books of 2010 by VegNews Magazine, offers an absorbing look at why and how humans can so wholeheartedly devote themselves to certain animals and then allow others to suffer needlessly, especially those slaughtered for consumption.

Social psychologist Melanie Joy explores the many ways we numb ourselves and disconnect from our natural empathy for farmed animals. She coins the term “carnism” to describe the belief system that has conditioned us to eat certain animals and not others.

In Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows, Joy investigates factory farming, exposing how cruelly animals are treated, the hazards meat-packing workers face, and the environmental impact of raising 10 billion animals for food each year. Controversial and challenging, this book will change the way you think about food forever.